Live text

Reporting:

STANDARD 14:37

Welcome to the BBC's live coverage of the aftermath of the MH17 air disaster. The first planes carrying bodies from the downed Malaysia Airlines flight have left Ukraine for the Netherlands, which is holding a day of mourning for the 298 victims. Forty coffins were loaded on to two military planes at Kharkiv airport on Wednesday morning by a military guard of honour.

STANDARD 14:39

Pro-Russian rebels have been widely blamed for shooting down the plane on 17 July. UK government sources say intelligence shows the rebels deliberately tampered with evidence, moving bodies and placing parts from other planes in the debris.

STANDARD 14:41

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military says two of its fighter jets were shot down on Wednesday just 35km (20 miles) from the crash site.

STANDARD 14:43

A national day of mourning is being held in the Netherlands, including here at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam.

STANDARD 14:49

Members of the Dutch royal family and PM Mark Rutte are meeting the first flight, which has just landed in Eindhoven.

BREAKING 14:52 Breaking News

The first two planes carrying bodies of the victims have now landed in Eindhoven.

STANDARD 15:00

Two aircraft - a Dutch military C-130 and Australian C-7 - flew the bodies to the Dutch airport, where they will be also met by families of the victims.

STANDARD 15:01

Churches around the Netherlands rang their bells for five minutes before the planes landed.

STANDARD 15:03

Members of the Dutch armed forces are marching towards the plane to bring the coffins onto the tarmac for the ceremony, before they are taken away for forensic identification.

TWEET

Arjen de Wolff

tweets: Church bells ringing in The Netherlands. The plane, bringing our dead home, about to land. One minute of silence throughout the land. #MH17